


Rhapsody of an Angel

by Metztlii_K



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Violence, F/M, Infidelity, Kim Jongin | Kai-centric, Minor Character Death, Reflection, this is a somewhat dark fic, with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 11:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12364827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metztlii_K/pseuds/Metztlii_K
Summary: “Mama, just killed a man.” - Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queens





	Rhapsody of an Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Originally a birthday story for a friend, but she let me share it with everyone. Yay!  
> Just Jongin himself in this story. Think of it like a drama with him as the main character. BTW has everyone seen Andante?  
> Warning: contains themes of domestic abuse and mentions of infidelity that may be triggering

_ “Mama, just killed a man.” - Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queens _

 

Adult life is nothing like the fantasy a child builds up. Reality is determined to tear the wings of innocence and naive expectations from a child, and there is nothing a child can do, except to lick their wounds and struggle to stay afloat in the rapid river of life.    
Once adulthood starts, it’s downhill from there. 

But the age that the white wings are ripped from the angel varies, and some blissfully live in ignorance until they themselves decide to venture into the harsh world. Others are grounded when they are much too young, burdened and riddled with scars too heavy for a small body to bear. 

Kai was one such child. 

His large feet traces the footpath neighbouring the ocean, taking the same steps he did when he was a child. The ocean breeze fills his lungs and ruffles his hair, much like how his mother did. 

The overcast sky turns the once blue and clear ocean into a calm sheet of tin. Kai stops before a bench. 

_ “Kai darling, would you like an ice cream?” _

Kai blinks, and his eyes instinctively drift towards the right of the green bench, but he sees no friendly old lady offering chocolate ice cream. With a nostalgic smile, Kai sits on the bench and allows himself to drown in memories. 

  
  


When he opened his eyes, Kai was 15 once more. His sun-kissed arms burned pleasantly under the glaring sun, and he knew from experience that after he is out of the sun, the skin will turn a painful and angry red. His mother would then scold him for purposely burning his already tan skin, but Kai couldn’t find it in himself to care about skin cancer and diseases he seemingly had no way contracting. 15 was an age when everyone believed themselves to be invincible, and he was no exception. 

Kai opened his mouth to the salty ocean tang and decided, that at this very moment with the cocktail of seagulls decorating the blue sky and the comforting sound of the waves crashing against the shore, life was perfect. 

“Kai!” a familiar voice called, jolting him from his moment of zen. Kai groaned, before gathering his sprawled limbs and wandering thoughts. After a determined deep breath, Kai stood up and yawned, stretching like a cat. 

“You are going to get cooked and become the main course on your own birthday dinner,” his mother scolded, but her arms stretched out, ready to embrace Kai. Kai sprinted down the footpath and dived into his mother’s hug. 

“But it’s my birthday,” Kai pouted. 

“Food is food,” his mother smiled, ruffling his hair. Perhaps if Kai was more observant, he would be able to notice the stuff stretch of his mother’s lips, and the brewing storm in his mother’s kind, brown eyes. 

Overhead, the clouds rolled in from nowhere, and somewhere far off, a thunderclap, the sound blending into the crashing of the waves. 

 

“Your father is going to be back for your birthday.”

Kai almost dropped the plate he was holding. 

“What?” 

“Your father,” his mother said firmly, but not with a slight tremble. Kai quietly puts down the plate and stalked towards the door. 

“What are you doing?” his mother demanded. 

“Locking it.”

“You know that doesn’t help.” 

Mother and son locked eyes, and instinctive, tangible fear bounced from the two and around the room. 

“No.” Kai bit his lip, and his mother sighed. 

“He is your father-”

“I have no father.” 

Electricity carrying hurt, guilt and something akin to shame passed through Kai’s mother, ageing her in the blink of an eye. A strand of grey hair blown by the ocean breeze fell into wrinkled face tired eyes. 

“Please,” his mother brought out another bowl, this one black and aesthetically dotted with red splashes of paint. Kai grimaced. 

“How did he know? You still talk to him, don’t you? You begged him back?”

Kai’s voice rose in volume as he watched his mother shrink smaller but still brought the third bowl to the table not without determination. 

“Why did you beg him? Why do you still talk to him? Don’t you remember what he did to us? To you?” Kai reached for his mother’s wrist and pulled up the black cotton sleeve, revealing bumps and blemishes that told the horrifying tale of a husband who beat his wife and children for entertainment. 

“15 is an important milestone, Kai.”

“I don’t care because I have you!”

Angry tears streamed down Kai’s face, landing on his mother’s scars, and he watched through blurry vision as his mother also wept. 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Kai promised his mother, and himself, to stay quiet and obedient until his father leaves. 

“18. I will wait for you to turn 18, and we can leave.”

Kai swore to himself that one day, his father will pay. 

His father arrived with a howling storm that turned 3 pm into night. But alongside him was a petite girl with blond curls and full, rouged lips. Her hips swayed sultrily, and she conducted herself in a manner that made Kai leapt to his feet. 

“Why did you bring a prostitute into my house?” Kai roared, horrified and fuming. The storm rattled the windows in response, and a strike of lightning bleached the world in white. 

Silence. 

“I do whatever I want, boy,” his father’s stern voice hacked at Kai’s brave front, threatening to force him and his mother to their knees, just like the past 15 years. The prostitute runs, but his father would not let go of her dainty throat until she pressed a kiss, her eyes squeezed shut, on his rugged cheek.

Kai’s vision turned red, tinting the sight of his father closing and locking the door with blood crimson. 

“We are divorcing, and I’m taking back everything belongs to me. Except for that delinquent. You can keep him.”

His mother fell to her knees in front of the devil, begging the bastard to stay with her. Kai slipped into the kitchen when they argued, and returned to the sight of his father landing a punch on his mother’s nose. A sick crack rang loudly around the apartment, echoed by a loud clap of thunder. 

Kai snapped. 

Just as his father straightened himself and gloated, looking down at his mother’s wrecked and sobbing form, Kai lunged, the knife held in front of him like a shield. 

There was the sound of something shattering, followed by a weak, surprised gasp. A wail tore from his throat, the horrible sound of an angel’s scream as his wings are torn out by the gnarly hands of reality. The white walls, painted with blood and ichor, depicted freedom and wisdom brought by sacrifice. 

  
  


Ten years later, 25-year-old Kai jolts himself awake from the flashback. After the event, he was admitted to hospital, unconscious and suffering from amnesia due to post-traumatic stress. His mother shouldered the blame and was sentenced to a few years of jail for manslaughter. She was released early due to good behaviour. 

Perhaps his hands were tainted with his own father’s blood, and wings ripped out too early, but the experience allowed Kai to grow stronger and fly higher. Kai smiles as he recalls the memory of swearing the vow that he would never dare to raise a finger at his beautiful wife in white. 

All events in life happen for a reason, and although not many of them are good, the lesson taught Kai and shaped him into a caring father with two beautiful children he is determined to protect for as long as he can. 

Kai spends a minute collecting his thoughts and limbs, and he walks purposefully towards his waving wife and two wide-eyed children. 

Overhead, the gentle ocean breeze pushes the clouds of an overcast sky away, revealing the sun and changes the ocean to a clear, cerulean blue. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments much appreciated! They make me happy


End file.
